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PSF Meeting Minutes for Jan. 11, 2010

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The Python Software Foundation
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors

January 11, 2010

A regular meeting of the Python Software Foundation ("PSF") Board of Directors was held over Internet Relay Chat beginning at 17:00 UTC, 11 January 2010. Steve Holden presided at the meeting. Pat Campbell prepared the minutes.

All votes are reported in the form "Y-N-A" (in favor — opposed — abstentions; e.g. "5-1-2" means "5 in favor, 1 opposed, and 2 abstentions").

1   Attendance

The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the meeting: Brett Cannon, Raymond Hettinger, Steve Holden, Martin v. Löwis, Tim Peters, Jeff Rush, and James Tauber [joined meeting at 17:16]. Also in attendance were Kurt Kaiser (Treasurer), David Goodger (Secretary), and Pat Campbell (Administrator).

2   Minutes of Past Meetings

The 14 December 2009 and 21 December 2009 Board meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 5-0-1 and 5-0-1, respectively.

3   Votes Taken Between Meetings

There were no votes taken since the last Board meeting on 21 December 2009.

4   Status of Past Action Items

(Pending action items appear like this.)

Action items are tracked in the private PSF wiki and their status is recorded in the regular minutes. The numbers in square brackets (like "[0]") refer to the action item ID on the wiki.

4.1   Carried Forward

The following are action items carried forward from the 09 November 2009 meeting, as highlighted in the minutes (Section 4, Status of Past Action Items). Numbers in [brackets] represent the item ID in the PSF private wiki.

  1. [11] Originally from June 2006, Section 6, PSF Records: The Board agreed to assemble the existing records in one place, have them scanned, and enter them into the PSF data repository. D. Goodger will coordinate this work and maintain the records. [Update 2008-12-08] D. Goodger will identify the records for scanning and send photocopies to P. Campbell. [Update 2009-03-10] Copies received by P. Campbell [Update 2009-06-08] D. Goodger to send more copies to P. Campbell for scanning.

    Status: active.

  2. [15] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 7, PyCon Asset Record-Keeping: D. Goodger will update the assets file in PSF CVS with the details of the laptops and VGA2USB boxes purchased for PyCon 2008.

    Status: pending.

  3. [16] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 12, Sponsor Membership Issues: D. Goodger and P. Campbell will update the member information in members.xls (sponsors & nominated members) & sponsor-addrs.txt, in PSF CVS. [Update 2009-06-19 & 2009-06-25] P. Campbell updated sponsor-addrs.txt & sent to K. Kaiser on 2009-06-19 & updated members.xls & sent to D. Goodger to post on PSF CVS on 2009-06-25.

    Status: active.

  4. [4] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.2, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding the PyCon transaction analysis.

    Status: pending.

  5. [10] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.8, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding unpaid PyCon registrations.

    Status: pending.

  6. [25] Originally from 11 August 2008, Section 6.2, PyCon UK Sponsorship:R. Hettinger will propose a blanket policy for sponsorships, instead of one-off requests.

    Status: pending.

  7. [17] Originally from 8 September 2008, Section 7, PSF Logo: D. Goodger will produce final layouts for a PSF logo.

    Status: pending.

  8. [42] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 10, Legal Issues: K. Kaiser will look into acquiring errors and omissions insurance for the Board of Directors.

    Status: pending.

  9. [50] Originally from 12 March 2009, Section 8, Account Signature Authority: K. Kaiser will obtain signature cards from the PSF's bank and coordinate their signing.

    Status: pending.

  10. [51] Originally from 27 March 2009, Section 4, New Members: D. Goodger and P. Campbell will inform the new members of their election, invite them to join the psf-members list, and will update the membership records. [Update 2009-04-16/DG: Email sent to new nominated members.] [Update 2009-06-01/DG: Membership roster updated.] [Update 2009-06-08/DG: Email sent to new sponsor members.]

    Status: active.

  11. [45] Added 2009-05-08: A. Kuchling will design, write, and deploy a Python for Beginners site. (Discussion/notes in public wiki).

    Status: active.

  12. [57] Added 2009-05-08: A. Kuchling will analyze how much 'coverage' we have in contributor agreements and if there are any high-profile contributors who haven't signed agreements. Go after people to improve our coverage. (Transferred from #13, Dec 2006 §4.)

    Status: active.

  13. [58] Originally from 11 May 2009, Section 5, New Memory for PSF Computer: M. von Löwis will purchase new memory to replace faulty memory on a PSF computer.

    Status: pending.

  14. [65] Originally from 11 May 2009, Section 13, Board Email List and Repository Access to PSF Administrator: S. Holden will initiate further discussion via email about adding the PSF Administrator to the Board email list and granting access to the repository. [Update 2009-06-08: Email access done.]

    Status: pending.

  15. [68] Originally from 11 May 2009, Section 15, PyCon Report: D. Goodger will update the Board by email as soon as the PyCon 2009 financial information is available. [Update 2009-05-22: status email sent to Board.]

    Status: active.

  16. [70] Originally from 8 June 2009, Section 14.1, Progress Report: A. Kuchling will draw up a PSF budget plan.

    Status: active.

  17. [87] Originally from 13 July 2009, Section 16.1, Financial Report: D. Goodger will work with V. Lindberg on a budget plan for PyCon 2010 & 2011.

    Status: pending.

  18. [89] Originally from 13 July 2009, Section 16.1, Financial Report: D. Goodger will inform the Board of the 10% commission amount received from hotel room charges at the Crowne Plaza Hotel stay during PyCon 2009 when the information becomes available.

    Status: pending.

  19. [90] Added 2009-08-02: Pat Campbell to assist Treasurer in collecting all outstanding receivables. Outstanding total currently $6,000 (KBK - please correct amount).

    Status: active.

  20. [97] Originally from 14 September 2009, Section 5, PyCon 2010 Budget: V. Lindberg will visit Atlanta to review and place some constraints on the menu, cost of catering, networking, etc. for PyCon 2010.

    Status: done.

  21. [99] Originally from 12 October 2009, Section 6, Sponsor Membership Levels: D. Mertz will develop guidelines for the new 2010 Sponsor Member fee levels.

    Status: pending.

  22. [102] Originally from 12 October 2009, Section 8, Motion to Adopt a Diversity Statement: D. Mertz will inform PSF members and the Diversity list of the new diversity statement and will consult with Diversity list members on a website location to publish the diversity statement.

    Status: pending.

  23. [103] Originally from 9 November 2009, Section 5, Support of FOSS-ORI : S. Holden will inform FOSS-ORI organizers of the board's decision to endorse their organization by granting them permission to list the PSF as a supporting organization.

    Status: done.

  24. [104] Originally from November 2009, Section 7, Adopt Guidelines for Sponsor Membership Levels: K. Kaiser will copy the new guidelines for sponsor membership levels into the repository.

    Status: pending.

  25. [105] Originally from November 2009, Section 7, Adopt Guidelines for Sponsor Membership Levels: S. Holden will send a sponsor membership levels draft letter out to the Board and to PSF members for comments.

    Status: active.

  26. [106] Originally from November 2009, Section 8, SEO Moves Sponsor Membership Application: S. Holden will inform SEO Moves organizers of the Board's decision to recommend their PSF sponsor membership application for 2010 & will request a PSF membership application form.

    Status: done.

  27. [107] Originally from November 2009, Section 9, Funding for PyTexas WiFi Setup & Projectors: J. Rush will inform PyTexas organizers of the PSF's grant funding of $150 and request an invoice.

    Status: pending.

4.2   New On 14 December

These action items originated at the 14 December 2009 Board meeting on IRC.

  1. [108] Section 5, Funding for DjangoSki: S. Holden will inform DjangoSki organizers of the PSF's grant funding of $750 and request an invoice.

    Status: pending.

  2. [109] Section 6, Funding/Fundraiser for Durian Blender Open Movie Project: J. Rush will inform the Blender Foundation organizers of the PSF's decision to offer matching funds of 10 Euros for each 100 Euros raised, not to exceed $1,500 Euros & request an invoice. He will also provide fundraising ideas and copy S. Holden on the correspondence.

    Status: pending.

  3. [110] Section 7, PSF Members Meeting at PyCon 2010: D. Goodger will send out a call for resolutions & nominations to be voted on at the 2010 PSF Members meeting to be held at PyCon 2010.

    Status: done.

  4. [111] Section 8, Funding for Python 3 Email Module: S. Holden will inform David R. Murray of the boards decision to offer a seed funding grant of $4,000 & assist with raising a further $10,000.

    Status: pending.

  5. [112] Section 9, Appointment of Wendroff as PSF Accountants: S. Holden will inform Wendroff & Associates, LLC of the board's decision to contract with them according to the terms of the agreement.

    Status: pending.

4.3   New on 21 December

  1. [113] Section 5, PSF budget for 2010: K. Kaiser will update the PSF website to reflect the changes on financial & tax filing data.

    Status: pending.

  2. [114] Section 5, PSF budget for 2010: K. Kaiser will archive the 2010 Budget.

    Status: pending.

  3. [115] Section 6, PSF Community Service Award Nominations for 2009-4th Qtr.: P. Campbell will mail out awards to 4th quarter recipients of the PSF Community Service Award for 2009.

    Status: active.

  4. [116] Section 6, PSF Community Service Award Nominations for 2009-4th Qtr.: S. Holden will write a congratulatory letter to the 4th quarter PSF Community Service Award recipients for 2009 & write a PSF blog entry about their contributions to the community.

    Status: pending.

  5. [117] Section 6, PSF Community Service Award Nominations for 2009-4th Qtr.: D. Goodger will update the PSF Wiki website to reflect the change in dollar amount allocated for a PSF Community Service Award recipient.

    Status: done.

4.4   New Between Meetings

There were no action items added since the last Board meeting on 21 December.

5   PyCon 2010 Budget & Current Attendance Rate

The Board discussed the PyCon 2010 budget and the current attendance rate and was provided with a report of PyCon 2010 registration status by K. Kaiser.

S. Holden: "I presume you have all followed my correspondence with V. Lindberg [PyCon Chair]. Any thoughts on the number registered versus number paid?"

K. Kaiser: "I will keep updating that report."

S. Holden: "According to V. Lindberg, a profit is now likely, but I am very concerned that major fixed costs still don't appear in the "actual" column, and the "probable" column isn't changing at all."

R. Hettinger: "The parts that are there look solid."

[118] R. Hettinger will communicate with V. Lindberg to get the "probable" and "actual" PyCon 2010 major fixed cost figures updated on the googlesheet and contact S. Holden.

6   Funding for Python Miro Community Website

The board continued their discussion, from the 2009 December 21 board meeting, of how a Python Miro Community website would benefit the community and decided the website would not be that great of a benefit to the community, therefore, the funding proposal was taken off the table.

S. Holden: "As far as the Miro grant proposal goes, I'm not sure there's any need for further action after the correspondence following the last meeting."

7   Membership Status of PropertySold.ca

The Board discussed the membership status of PropertySold.ca and decided to suspend all membership rights until the sponsor member's yearly fees are paid in full. As a result of this decision, the board will also amend the PSF bylaws to reflect the new requirements to change a member's status to emeritus would be a two-thirds majority of those voting rather than on the whole membership.

[119] D. Goodger will amend the PSF bylaws to reflect that a two-thirds majority vote of members present is enough to change a membership status.

8   Overdue Action Items

S. Holden reminded board members to update items on the Action Items wiki page to reflect current reality.

S. Holden: "Some of you won't be aware, we implemented the "Action Items" page to try and get away from having meeting consumed by visiting the many outstanding actions that members had often done nothing about. It has been successful in so far as we do get to spend more time discussing new business, but looking at the list, many items are now significantly past their sell-by date."

M. von Löwis: "I propose to put selected items on the agenda each month, with a proposed motion to drop them."

S. Holden: "It seems to me that if you...don't have time to move something forward then the item should really be passed to someone else (not necessarily a director) or possibly even discarded altogether (if not required by Board vote).

9   Arrangements for Members Meeting & Board Meeting at PyCon 2010

The Board continued to discuss and make arrangements for the PSF Members meeting and Board meeting to be held at PyCon 2010 in mid February.

[120] D. Goodger will arrange for an open-space room to be allocated & lunch for the members meeting at PyCon 2010.

11   Funding for Mercurial 1.5 Sprint

B. Cannon: "Mercurial is asking for $1,000 to sponsor travel to a sprint in Europe where Logilab is giving them sprint space."

RESOLVED, that the PSF offer a grant of $1,000 for travel for the Mercurial 1.5 sprint.

Approved, 6-0-0.

[122] S. Holden will inform Mercurial organizers of the PSF funding of $1,000 and request an invoice.

12   Treasurer Report

The monthly Treasurer's Report was provided to Board members by K. Kaiser prior to the Board meeting.

13   Adjournment

S. Holden adjourned the meeting at 18:05 UTC.